• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.736-741
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• 2010

Purpose: Radical surgical extirpation in advanced breast cancer patients produces extensive loss of skin with large defects requiring plastic surgical procedures for the closure. Many reconstructive methods exist, the choice of which depends upon the characteristic of the wound, extent of resection and patient comorbidities. For adequate coverage of the large skin defects following resection of advanced breast cancer, current authors have performed a thoracoabdominal flap. Methods: From August 2008 to June 2009, 4 cases of thoraco-abdominal flap were performed for chest wall reconstruction after mastectomy of advanced breast cancer. Flap dissection was entirely performed in a subfascial plane and the flap involving the external oblique abdominal muscle. The flap was rotated clockwise in left chest wall defects and counterclockwise in right chest defects and the donor site was closed directly. Results: Their mean age, 55.7 years and the average follow-up interval was 9 months. Patients' oncologic status ranged from stage IIIc to stage IV, it was classified according to the TNM staging system. Flap dimensions ranged between $15{\times}15$ and $25{\times}25\;cm$. One flap sustained a partial loss at the distal margin and revision with pectoralis major musculocutaneous island flap. Conclusion: Large chest wall reconstructions are usually required after radical excision of advanced cancer stages patients with poor general conditions. Thoracoabdominal flap is a simple, quick single-stage procedure, and offer to patient fast recovery, low complication rate, enabling further concomitant adjuvant therapy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.765-769
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• 2007

Background: The curative treatment of choice for empyema is decortication of the pleura. The risks of this treatment however are increased for the patient with reduced pulmonary function, complicated calcification or septic shock. In the past, open window thoracostomy was a final stage treatment for chronic empyema. Relatively safe treatment of empyema could be achieved in difficult cases with a closure of the open window after open drainage and use of a myocutaneous flap (one stage or staged). Material and Method: A retrospective study of the cause, progression and final outcome of empyema patients who received open window thoracostomy was performed. 21 patients were followed from 1995 to 2004 in the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the College of Medicine, Pusan National University. Result: The average age of the patients was $57.5{\pm}15.5$ years (range $25{\sim}78$ years), of whom 16 (76.2%) were men and five (23.8%) were women. Pulmonary function test results showed an average FEV1 of $1.58{\pm}0.49 L$. The type of empyema was tuberculous empyema in 13 cases (61.9%), aspergillosis in three cases (14.3%), parapneumonic empyema in three cases (14.3%) and post-resectional empyema in two cases (10%). Bronchopulmonary fistula was seen in 14 cases. Eight cases were complicated by severe calcification of the pleura. For the four cases of bronchopulmonary fistula, the patients' serratus anterior muscle was covered in their first operation. The average number of ribs resected was $4{\pm}1$. Closure of the open window thoracostomy was performed in 12 cases. The average time to closure after open drainage was $10.22{\pm}3.11$ months and the average defect of the empyemal cavity before the final operation was $330{\pm}110 cc$. Among the 12 cases, there were two cases of spontaneous closure. In two cases closure was only achieved by using the reserved skin fold during the first surgery. Of the remaining eight cases, in seven we used the myocutaneous flap (four cases of lattisimus dorsi muscle and three cases of pectoralis major muscle), and in one case we used soft tissue. As regards complications of the closure, tissue necrosis occurred in one case, which led to failed closure, and there was one case of abdominal hernia in the rectus abdominis muscle flap. One patient died within 30 days of the surgery and one patient died of metastatic cancer. Conclusion: A staged operation with a final closure using open window thoracostomy, which consists of open drainage, transposition of the muscle and a myocutaneous flap, can be a safe and effective option for the chronic empyema patient who is difficult to cure with traditional surgical methods.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.628-634
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• 2016

Many pitchers suffer from various types of injury (distortion, sprain and so on). The rate of injury is increased if there are differences in strength between the extensor and flexor muscles when a joint movement is performed with maximum speed. However, there has been insufficient research into the injury caused by strength differences between the extensor and flexor muscles. Thus, the purpose of the study was to examine the effects of elbow ulnar collateral ligament injury on the maximal isometric strength in young baseball pitchers. The data collection was conducted for 2 weeks. The subjects (n=36) who participated in this study were placed into either the injury group (n = 18, IG) or normal group (n = 18, NG). The maximal isometric strength for the pectoralis major (PM), infraspintus (I), biceps brachii (BB), triceps brachii (TB), flexor carpi radialis (ECR) and extensor carpi radialis (FCR) muscles were determined by an isometric strength machine (K-DFX) and then the differences in strength were calculated by muscle group. All of the data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0 with the independent t-test. In the results, the maximal isometric strengths in the IG for the I (p=0.035), BB (p=0.031) and TB (p=0.041) were significantly lower than those in the NG, while that for the ECR (p=0.047) was significantly greater. In addition, the differences of the maximal isometric strength between the PM and I (p = 0.008), BB and TB (p = 0.002), and FCR and ECR (p = 0.032) in the IG were significantly greater than those in the NG. In conclusion, the differences in muscle strengths of the subjects in the IG were greater than those in the NG, which suggests that they might have a higher injury rate in the future. However, they might be able to recover from their injury and achieve better performance if the differences in strength were reduced by training.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2020

This study aimed to develop a modular smart clothing system for heart rate monitoring that reduces the inconvenience caused by battery charging and the large size of measurement devices. The heart rate monitoring system was modularized into a temporary device and a continuous device to enable heart rate monitoring depending on the requirement. The temporary device with near-field communication (NFC) and heart rate sensors was developed as a clothing attachment type that enables heart rate monitoring via smart phone tagging when required. The continuous device is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication and batteries and was developed to enable continuous heart rate measurement via a direct connection to the temporary device. Furthermore, the temporary device was configured to connect with a textile electrode made of a silver-based knitted fabric designed to be located below the pectoralis major muscle for heart rate measurement. Considering the user-experience factors, key functions, and the ease of use, we developed an application to automatically log through smart phone tagging to improve usability. To evaluate the accuracy of the heart rate measurement, we recorded the heart rate of 10 healthy male subjects with a modular smart clothing system and compared the results with the heart rate values measured by the Polar RS800. Consequently, the average heart rate value measured by the temporary system was 85.37, while that measured by the reference device was 87.03, corresponding to an accuracy of 96.73%. No significant difference was found in comparison with the reference device (T value = -1.892, p = .091). Similarly, the average heart rate measured by the continuous system was 86.00, while that measured by the reference device was 86.97, corresponding to an accuracy of 97.16%. No significant difference was found in terms of the heart rate value between the two signals (T value = 1.089, p = .304). The significance of this study is to develop and validate a modular clothing system that can measure heart rates according to the purpose of the user. The developed modular smart clothing system for heart rate monitoring enables dual product planning by reducing the price increase due to unnecessary functions.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2001

The objectives or this study were to improve duck meat qualify during storage period in onion-red ducks which contained antioxidants. Experimental animals (1 day old, Cherry Valley $F_{1}$, 360 chicks) were randomly assigned in eight treatment group. Treatments were control, 3%, 6% of chopped onion-fed, 5%, 10% of onion extract fed, 6% of onion meal, 3%, 6% of fermented onion-fed. pH was significantly high (P<0.05) in treatment group after 3 day storage in pectoralis muscle. Meat color was low in r* and a* value. TBA value was not different in day 1, was significantly low (P<0.05) 6% chopped and 6% fermented group after day 3 storage. Also, TBA value was significantly high (P<0.05) in control group and was significantly low in 3% chopped, 5%, 10% extract after day 6 storage. VBN value was lower in all treatment groups except 5% ferment group than control group. Meat order was high score in 3% and 6% chopped group and duck specific smell was reduced in all treatment groups. Meat appearance was higher score in treatment groups than in control group during 9 day storage. In result, onion feeding was reduce duck specific smell and improve meat quality during long period storage in ducks.